Chapter 2 - FOUR MONTHS OF SILENCE
Lucie showed the message to Officer Moreau.
He took one look and moved toward the hallway, already calling another officer.
Valérie watched him go.
Then she looked back at Lucie.
For one second, there was no polished smile, no wounded dignity. There was only anger.
“You have no idea what you’ve started.”
Lucie stepped closer.
“You sent someone to my mother?”
“I said you have no idea.”
Four months earlier, Lucie would have apologized.
She had apologized when Valérie spilled coffee over a clean floor and blamed her. When a crystal dish broke in another room. When Valérie caught her carrying leftover bread toward the staff entrance.
“That food belongs to this household.”
“It was going in the trash.”
“And now so are you, if you argue.”
Lucie had swallowed every answer.
Her mother needed medication. The estate paid on time.
Then, three days before the party, Lucie had been dusting Alexandre’s study when a folder slipped behind the books.
She would have put it back if she hadn’t seen the name of her mother’s former clinic on a bank transfer.
The clinic had closed after missing funds left patients without care.
Her mother had nearly died waiting for treatment.
Lucie opened the folder.
She found monthly transfers to a residence called Maison des Pins. She found copies of Alexandre’s signature that looked traced. She found payments approved while he was overseas.
She photographed everything.
The next evening, delivering coffee, she heard the family accountant speaking through the study door.
“Fifteen years, Valérie. How much longer?”
“Until she stops being a problem.”
Lucie set her phone behind a stack of folders and pressed record.
Now Alexandre stood beside her in the crowded drawing room.
“Did you steal documents from my office?”
“No. I took pictures.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Your wife told me I’d be fired if I spoke to you.”
“She isn’t my wife.”
Lucie blinked.
“My late brother’s widow,” he said. “She’s managed this house since Claire died.”
Across the room, Mathéo wiped his face on his sleeve.
Alexandre looked at the boy.
“My brother’s son.”
Valérie straightened.
“I raised that child. I kept this family together.”
Officer Moreau returned.
“Your mother is safe. An officer is bringing her to the station.”
Lucie’s knees nearly gave out.
“Thank you.”
“We’re checking the number.”
Alexandre held out his hand for the card.
Lucie hesitated, then placed it in his palm.
May you like
Valérie spoke quietly.
“Alex, before you open that, remember what happened the last time you believed Claire.”
